Indie extreme metal support blog

Very personal review of Leviathan’s “Beyond The Gates Of Imagination PT. I”

Finally it’s out! I was absolutely stoked when I received their CDs in my hands! You know if you were the one who only buy music via web-download, you could never experience that kinda fabulous feeling… At first, I stared into the album artwork for a while before opening the CD case, my mind had already started traveling into the Leviathan’s world… and then, I opened it and found out there’s a beautiful pictured-disc and was smiling like a little kid :D Okay, let’s put it on a tray of a stereo system *grin*, and visit to the first gate of imagination…

As you know I’m not a critic from a press, so I can’t write about the music objective with any technical terms, I’m just a tiny metalhead and eager to visit their philosophical dimension, that is all.

It started with tick-down sounds by the way. I turned the first page of the booklet and listened carefully to the instruments tune “Prologue”, was feeling a bit weird…I mean I started kinda loosing a balance in my body… can’t describe it well but honestly felt so. Slowly came down when the tune faded away, and then, sounds of waves reached my ears… Hell yeah! I already know this song very well and love it so much… “Beneath A Blackened Sky”. Phew, such a progressive and dramatic tune with the darkened lyrics!I became more fan of the song coz I finally listened it without any compressions, yay!

Anyway, we all human beings have been betrayed our Mother Nature over and over again for a long time, and now I’m standing in the polluted blackened oily water and listening to the last scream of Jonas “No one will forget, no one will forgive you…”. In the end of the song, I closed my eyes with silence except the sound of God-box. Oh, by the way, Tom in the first page of the booklet looks like the Rodin’s sculpture :D Yeah, Leviathan has their own philosophical sense in the lyrics as you know, and the artworks in the album as well!

Well, it exploded suddenly with totally overwhelming instruments and vocals!!! Actually “Where Light And Death Unite” is my latest favoriteAnyway, I remembered one of my favorite quotes "There never was a good war or a bad peace." by Benjamin Franklin with the lyrics.

The next one called “Reaper’s Edict”, Tobi told me the song is one of their oldest writings before… turned over the booklet, you can see the lyrics and the photo of Tobi, one of his hands is getting vanished in smoke… the photo and the lyrics scared me anyway. Only the guitars sounds more emotional than others.

“Servants Of The Nonexistent” has started with a song of bards ( Is this correct???), now I’m traveling to some ancient world. This is the most exotic tune in the album. Impressive! :D Fabian’s clean vox are totally new to my ears by the way, and the photo of Tobias(P) is trying to catch something…. You know, if you really want to listen to the album, you need to concentrate it and need to allow your imagination to run wild for sure! Actually, the first time I listened through it I felt it’s totally complex! :D Yeah I like progressive metal of course but I can’t say am a big fan of Opeth, haha. Anyway, I love Leviathan’s philosophical world so much!

Okay, let’s move to the next one - “The Scourge We Wield”. I’m still somewhere in an ancient world… You can hear some female’s vocals in this song. Tell the truth, usually I don’t like a partly-female-vox in Death Metal coz I feel it takes the edge off the power of metal but her vox are totally matching to their world honestly  I love the lyrics by the way, it reminds me “Visions” by Stratovarius somehow, the human race has to pay the price to planet earth because of those selfish behaviors…

Oh, in this album, you can hear a lot of folkloric-atmospherical-sounds :D I mentioned Opeth above and also can talk about Eluveitie, haha :D In the booklet, Fabian who looks like an ancient prophet (or just a pilgrim? xD) is pointing something. Oh, the intro of “About Fangs And Feathers” is totally flaming… and I love it! With Jonas’s overwhelming screams, the song sounds more intense, and I also love the lyrics, it reminds me Aesop’s Fables :D Sorry guys but this is my journey and there’s no one could blame me, right? haha ;D

By the way, I have to describe something about their dimension again… All songs in the album have obviously strong trait of contrast between calmness and intensity, it makes their tunes more extreme.

Okay, finally I reached to the last song “Sway Of The Stars”. Ugh, the lyrics annoys me completely xD I mean they made it! *epic win* :D It means I’m totally into their dimension and struggling with my journey… If you are curious about what’s happening there, there’s no way to find it out without an experience by yourself, and everybody who try it get their own story there. I only can tell you that your journey will be so intense, also it will be darkened and much scary, but it’s totally worth trying for sure! Thou shall not fear… :D Jonas in the cover of the album is waiting for you for leading you to the first gate of imagination, so why don’t you try it? ;D I already became a frequenter of their dimension (junkie!!!), and always get a new experience there, as I told you it’s not so easy album, it’s totally complex, so you never get bored with it I bet ;D

I want to say “Congrats!” to all Leviathan guys, they’ve done such an awesome job, seriously!